The paths through the Silver Mountain Range were far harder to traverse than Xia Yan had imagined.
Rugged mountain trails, dense forests and shrubs, and wild Pokémon that could appear at any moment all posed considerable obstacles to travel.
Even worse,
in most cases, defeating one wild Pokémon would often lead to being surrounded by many more.
And the most troublesome situation of all was encountering a powerful wild Pokémon clan.
Just like Xia Yan was now.
Without realizing it, while avoiding the pursuit and interception of other wild Pokémon, he had entered the territory of a massive Pokémon clan.
The main reason
was that these Pokémon, accustomed to living in the wilderness and adapted to its harsh environment, possessed exceptionally strong camouflage abilities.
Of course,
it was also because Xia Yan had not summoned his main Pokémon and simply bulldozed his way through.
That
was something Agatha had specifically instructed him about.
There were countless wild Pokémon within the Silver Mountain Range. Champion-level ones were rare, but that did not mean they did not exist.
If an overly powerful individual Pokémon appeared, it could very easily draw the vigilance or even hostility of those powerful creatures.
After all, to wild Pokémon, territory was their most important possession.
Territory represented a living environment, resources, and status.
The place where he stood might belong to a reasonably strong Pokémon such as a Nidoking, but it could also fall within the territory of an even stronger Champion-level Pokémon.
A powerful Pokémon suddenly entering could be regarded as a Taunt, a challenge to its authority.
However,
there was actually an even more important reason.
That was the Pokémon League's surveillance and control over the interior of the Silver Mountain Range.
Especially after the unrest within the Silver Mountain Range during the last Masters